RMP&Os 1977 Patrol Ute build for overlanding

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
This is a 1977 Nissan Patrol Ute. It is a factory cab & chassis so it never had a factory bed on it. A Patrol like this is usually just called a Ute or maybe a G60H. Officially the model is 94Z-G60HA which is a cab & chassis from the factory. "60" is the series of Patrol, the 60 series ran from 1960-1979. "G" stands for MWB but technically this is a LWB with a 110" wheel base, all Patrols that are MWB & LWB are G60s. The "H" denotes heavy loading which meant 1 ton rear axle and heavy duty leaf springs. The "A" stands for cab & chassis. I imported it from New Zealand in 2003.

Here is the model shown from a late 1970s Aussie parts book....

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As compared to the non cab & chassis, ie factory bed.

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Back in 2003 I bought the truck sight unseen, well I saw a few bad pictures of it on the internet. It was a compulsive buy but I figured what the hell why not! I won the auction for the truck on TradeMe in New Zealand. I then imported it to Long Beach, California and drove down to pick it up. This truck had been used on a farm, likely its whole life. When I got the Ute it had a flat bed and there was about 200 pieces of bailing twine hanging off the flat bed rack from feeding cattle. When I picked it up I was a bit disappointed to see it had a fair amount of rot. Yet, I couldn't complain to much since I didn't pay a lot for the truck, import expenses aside.

As far as anybody knows (be happy if somebody proved me wrong) this is the first Nisan Patrol pick up in the USA. Since 2003 a few others have been imported including a LHD with a factory bed from Saudi Arabia. This is however the only factory cab & chassis Ute in the country, again as far as I or anybody else I have met knows.

The truck arrived to me in basically stock used condition. The motor ran and ran decent, the trans shifted and the 4wd worked. I however have removed the stock engine, trans, t-case and rear axle recently and sold them off. I have also swapped in a light duty C200 rear axle and leaf spring pack that was the original stuff in my 83 Patrol. So basically I have a gutted truck now ready to go for the mods and build!

I also have a 1983 Patrol, it is heavily built for off-roading.

Building up the 83 Patrol has left me with a lot of new and really nice parts since the build of that truck has gone through several transformations. I also now have a plan and vision for the Ute...a solid direction to go with the truck and build up. I also have a whole bunch of sweet parts from my 83 that nobody really wants to buy. At least not what I need to sell them for; the axles, 5spd and t-case I have a ton of money in so can't sell that stuff for cheap. I bought a turbo for my N/A SD33 in the 83 now and rounded up several PTO (power take off) winches plus a front PTO box and a rear PTO box. It took me years to get all the PTO stuff and cost a chunk of change but I do have just about everything to set up a Patrol with front & rear PTO winches if I want! One really cool thing about the PTO winches, they use the same free wheeling hub found on the front axle to free spool the winch. So in other words you always have a spare free wheeling hub on the truck!

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factory glass in good condition! :)

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Gutted cab.....

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cab back in fairly good condition....

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factory H260 1ton rear diff, I sold this off though.

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Project has not started but, my plan is;

Convert to LHD using USA Patrol parts, LHD steering box & LHD firewall.
fit SD33T diesel engine - currently an N/A in my 83
fit 160 series Patrol 5spd and t-case - currently in my 83 Patrol
fit C200 front and H233 rear axles, the H260 is sold and gone.
suspension will be SOA (spring over axle) using nice stock leaf springs from an 83 Patrol.

In summary the truck will have a diesel engine, 5spd transmission, newer style Patrol t-case, built axles, SOA suspension, set up for 35" tires (or up to 37") and basically be capable of driving long distances down the road plus do well in the dirt. As far as the rocks, it won't really be set up for any serious rock crawling since crawl ratio will be about 52:1 max. It should get decent mileage, have plenty of payload capacity, be able to do 70mph or so down the HWY and also tear it up off-road in everything but the rocks. The motor isn't exactly powerful, think stock 12HT (little less HP) in an FJ45 pickup, yet should do alright in the Ute.

I have some body parts to fix rust/rot and convert to LHD. I have the diesel engine which as mentioned is in my 83 Patrol but it and the turbo will need a rebuild. I have the 5spd and t-case with a fresh rebuild on them, the synchros for the 5spd were only available from Nissan and cost big bucks. The flywheel was resurfaced less then 1,000 miles ago and drilled to suit a big clutch. It also is running a new + big 11" Exedy Safari Tuff clutch suited for a GU/Y61 Patrol TD42 diesel, this cost a chunk of change. It works simply killer though and should last a long time. I have the axles, fully rebuilt, regeared to 4.6s and fitted with ARBs. Front axle also has H233 buffed up CVs and is set up for high steer. Rear axle is converted to disc brakes, it was drums stock. I have the PTO winches (factory) and also both front & rear PTO boxes. I also have all the 83 Patrol power steering stuff in LHD but it needs to be mounted up in the Ute. Currently the Ute has a stock RHD steering box. I also have new clutch slave and master cylinders plus a new brake master cylinder. However, mounting those up in the Ute is another story! Any ways, I must have at least 75% of the build covered in one way or another!


As mentioned project has not started but as you can see lot's of gear has been rounded up for the build.

More pictures here.... http://www.rmp-o.com/phpBB3/ga...y2.php?g2_itemId=821

Here is a video of the Ute when I was just messing around with it one day, this is with the stock engine and drivetrain. I love the triple wipers!


Last summer I was able to get some fairly rust free USA LHD body parts including a top, dash/firewall, a hood and a few other things. So I have some body parts already to fix rot and do the LHD conversion. I can also order up new fenders, windshield frame, door skins and a few patch panels from these guys,

http://www.pacolonline.com/Lan...iser_parts/HOME.html

http://www.citroa.com/nissan-patrol-g60-series/

Both of those guys are selling Patrol body parts in the USA now. The windshield frame on the Ute is rotten so will replace it with new. The hood has a huge hole cut in it by p/o so he could carry a tire on the hood like a Land Rover. As mentioned though I have a good firewall, good hood and a few other body pieces.



I have gone and edited my posts in this build thread from when I originally posted. Plans have recently changed. I am not going to build the truck for myself or do anything crazy with it. I am not going to do any of the body work, at least not much. I am however going to mount the very nice axles I have under the truck in a SOA configuration. I am also going to mount up the SD33 diesel engine, the new 5spd transmission and t-case, install LHD p/s box and other p/s bits and last item being a 20 gallon stainless steel fuel tank. At the same time I am going to restore the frame. Suspension and axles will be done by buying/using new brackets, perches and such. Motor mounts and trans mount will be either recycled from my 83 Patrol or new ones made. Chassis is getting sand blasted, Rust Bullet "Automotive" on inside of frame and Rust Bullet "Blackshell" sprayed on the outside.

I am doing this to get rid of a bunch of stuff and sell the Ute. It will be prep'ed for the next guy with restored frame, axles mounted, suspension done, diesel motor installed, trans & t-case installed, new fuel tank, steering box, ect ect. The next guy though will have to finish it off with the body work, bed, interior/seats and few other little things. This is the best route to go for me to get rid of all this stuff and try to recover some dollars. It should also make for a nice "blank" of a truck for the next guy to finish off as he/she likes. I will update the thread as I make progress on the stuff I am doing.

cheers
 
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RMP&O

Expedition Leader
Here is the rear PTO box I have for this project....

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if I am going to use this though, I will have to figure out a shifter set up as I do not have a shifter assembly for this. So not sure if I would use this or not. It came off a FirePatrol though and is very rare, on the FirePatrol it would have ran a pump. This rear PTO box could easily run a rear PTO winch or a hydraulic pump to power all kinds of tools from winch to chain saws. It is pretty darn cool and in mint condition!

Complete front PTO winch assembly and spare PTO winch! This is all factory Nissan gear! :D

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Here are the axles I have for the project...

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and front...

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As mentioned above the rear is an H233 and the front is a C200. For those who do not know, the numbers in Nissan diffs/axles denotes ring gear size in mm. The rear is very similar to H233's found in Pathfinders and Xterras but it is offset to the RHS.

Rear H233:
-fully rebuilt
-re-geared to 4.6
-ARB locker
-custom made pumpkin skid, 3/8"
-disc brake conversion with all new brakes

front C200
-fully rebuilt & new brakes
-H233 Y60 Patrol CVs that have a ring welded on them and been cryo treated
-H233 free wheeling hubs
-Yuri 4x4 high steer
-re-geared to 4.6
-ARB locker
-3/8" skid

I am sure the suspension mounts and so forth will have to be cut off the axles and new ones made since they are currently set up for air shocks. Otherwise these axles are ready to go!



Don't expect any updates for awhile, this project is not started and won't be started for sometime. I thought I would share the truck though, what I have rounded up for the project as well as my plans for it.

cheers
 
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4Rescue

Expedition Leader
SO are you selling the 83 then and just building up the UTE??? I'm confused... I'm also really confused cause on RMP&O under your rigs it shows a 6wd Pinz that I'm really familliar with too. I Love your 83, I actually for some reason really liked it when it was stock with the skinny tires on it. DUnno, something about the utilitarian looks. You have so many neat rigs between the 83 and now the 60series and the Troll Ute...

Cheers

Dave
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
SO are you selling the 83 then and just building up the UTE??? I'm confused... I'm also really confused cause on RMP&O under your rigs it shows a 6wd Pinz that I'm really familliar with too. I Love your 83, I actually for some reason really liked it when it was stock with the skinny tires on it. DUnno, something about the utilitarian looks. You have so many neat rigs between the 83 and now the 60series and the Troll Ute...

Cheers

Dave

The 83 has gone through phases. First it was stock, then it was modified but had stock parts and now it is not very stock. The 83 has a new engine, Portal-Tek axles and will get an NV4500 and Atlas. As a result all the gear I had for the 83 in stock form, ie new axles, new tranny/t-case and SD33 diesel engine is all going into the Ute.

Yeah, I had owned an ex-racing Pinz, dubb'ed the Warn Pinzgauer. I sold the truck years ago but liked it so much and it was so unique (how many racing Pinz you seen?) that I still keep pictures of it around for people to check out.

I also have a 1964 soft top Patrol, very rare as only 950 of them were sold in the USA. It will be sold here before to long though.

Hope that makes a bit more sense.....
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
Ah see that's what I was wondering, it seemed like you had built the 83 to be such a monster that I couldn't belive you'd just get rid of it aye hahahahaha. Can't wait to see the Ute take shape. That Pinz of yours ended up here a few years back at Warn (I've got a few friends that work in their R/D and Engineering dept's) and I litteraly crawled all over the thing like it was a jungle jim. What a neat truck aye, the soft top sounds really cool (I THINK there was a soft-top here in SW Portland at a guys house sitting in the car-port but it's moved on since then...it was in rough shape) All you trucks are sweet, I like your approach to building rigs too mate. Build them for what you need them for not what someone else thinks they should be like aye.

Side bar question: WHere are you in those "08/09" trips where it looks like you under an Ice-fall with the fire blazing???

Cheers

Dave
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
Ah see that's what I was wondering, it seemed like you had built the 83 to be such a monster that I couldn't belive you'd just get rid of it aye hahahahaha. Can't wait to see the Ute take shape. That Pinz of yours ended up here a few years back at Warn (I've got a few friends that work in their R/D and Engineering dept's) and I litteraly crawled all over the thing like it was a jungle jim. What a neat truck aye, the soft top sounds really cool (I THINK there was a soft-top here in SW Portland at a guys house sitting in the car-port but it's moved on since then...it was in rough shape) All you trucks are sweet, I like your approach to building rigs too mate. Build them for what you need them for not what someone else thinks they should be like aye.

Side bar question: WHere are you in those "08/09" trips where it looks like you under an Ice-fall with the fire blazing???

Cheers

Dave

So the Warn Pinz ended up back with Warn after all. Interesting, I offered it to Mike Warn when I sold it but they were not interested. Had not seen it around here in JH since at least 2007. I did a ton of work to that truck..

The cave behind the waterfall is in Oregon (my home turf) and is a bit of a secret spot. I have better pictures of camping there from a year ago on my Facebook page.

Cheers
 
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Warn Industries

Supporting Vendor
That is a very cool rig; really looking forward to the progress on this. I wish I'd been around to see that Pinz, too.
- Andy
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
Yeah the Pinz wasn't staying there I don't think, I'm not sure. I jsut got a call from a buddy who works in the winch engineering dept. and all he said was "if you want to see one fo the coolest trucks that's ever been here get down here NOW" and I drove like a mad man to get over there... LOVED that thing. I've been dreaming of something liek that for an Exploration rig ever since I learned about them even existing. i really like the Volvo C303's and their many variants. Such neat trucks.

I understand the sanctity of the "secret spot" so I'll ask no more mate. Are you originaly from OR or something??? Such a neat spot aye. Were you camping in that "cave/overhang" spot with the fire??? Reminds me of a bigger version of the "bomoshelter" cave camp spot on the Owyhee River (middle section) kinda. Very neat and makes me REAL anxious for some winter backpacking. I lie to go up into "Sunshine" below the sisters along the PCT off the Santiam highway. Always some really neat little "dry islands" as we call them to make a neat camp and use it as a base to climb up some of the faces of the south sister right there in front of you. Also makes for one HELL of a sweet way to watch the sun set/rise aye. I love being from the NW. You ever been into the Tilly Jane cabins over by Cooper Supr in the winter???
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
Yeah the Pinz wasn't staying there I don't think, I'm not sure. I jsut got a call from a buddy who works in the winch engineering dept. and all he said was "if you want to see one fo the coolest trucks that's ever been here get down here NOW" and I drove like a mad man to get over there... LOVED that thing. I've been dreaming of something liek that for an Exploration rig ever since I learned about them even existing. i really like the Volvo C303's and their many variants. Such neat trucks.

I understand the sanctity of the "secret spot" so I'll ask no more mate. Are you originaly from OR or something??? Such a neat spot aye. Were you camping in that "cave/overhang" spot with the fire??? Reminds me of a bigger version of the "bomoshelter" cave camp spot on the Owyhee River (middle section) kinda. Very neat and makes me REAL anxious for some winter backpacking. I lie to go up into "Sunshine" below the sisters along the PCT off the Santiam highway. Always some really neat little "dry islands" as we call them to make a neat camp and use it as a base to climb up some of the faces of the south sister right there in front of you. Also makes for one HELL of a sweet way to watch the sun set/rise aye. I love being from the NW. You ever been into the Tilly Jane cabins over by Cooper Supr in the winter???

The Warn Pinz is and was a very good truck for overland travel. It's few downsides would be top end speed and ability to do technical off-roading. Technical like lot's of off-camber, rocks and so forth. In the jungle (mud) or desert or light to mild off-roading the Pinz does extremely well. Long distance imho would only be good in a Pinz if your top speed is 50mph or less and you don't need to cover a lot of ground in one day. Since you saw the Warn Pinz you can see how just a few mods like seats and storage goes along ways on these trucks. As far as working on them, extremely easy for most things with the axles and diffs being the most complicated part of the truck. The Volvos are also very good for overland travel if it is within the parameters I just mentioned. I like the PInzies a bit more but the Volvo probably has the edge for being more capable offroad as it is a solid axle truck. Most 6x6 Pinzies these days are selling for about the $15k mark and you get a lot of bang for your buck. These trucks were $100k+ trucks back in the day. As far as quality and amount of engineering that went into these trucks, they rank extremely high on my list.

Yes I grew up in the Willamette Valley & coast range. Spent 24yrs there. Most of my time outdoors there spent on the western slopes of the Cascades and around peaks like Broken Top, Diamond Peak and the Three Sisters. I did live in Bend for a summer though when I was a kid. I once did a 120ish mile backpack trip near the Three Sisters solo over the ocurse of two weeks. It was early season with lot's of snow pack still in the mountains so I saw not a sinlge person for those two weeks. A great place to go is up around Diamond Peak to the Yoran Lakes and Mount Yoran, access behind Hills Creek Reservoir. It is a great area with acess to climb Diamond Peak being near by. Mount Yoran is a 1,000+ foot scramble up shale, scree and boulders to a small bivouac on the peak. A great place to spend the night! Camping around the lakes is also very good. I really love the NW but doubt I will ever live there again...
cheers
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
Sweet man, I knew from looking at the pics it was NW forrest aye. Cool to hear you're a fellow web-foot too mate (although I'm personaly a flat tailed buck-toothed Wet-lander if ya catch my drift ;) ) and thanks for hte heads up on some sweet places to explore. I've been focusing on SE Oregon the last year or so with my Fiance, but I'm always down for a scramble to a sweet bivvy somewhere aye. I REALLY love the Cascade lakes Highway. Or like Sanitam Pass or the climb up the back side of Mt. hood to the Tilly Jane cabins. I also REALLY love the amazing hot spring up the North Umpqua out of Roseburg (the name escapes me but it's a pretty famous one with one of the best built "structures" outside of Bagby at a hot springs and yet it still feels completely isolated when your're out there aye) I love the NW cause even after living here for 32 years (minus a few years here and there living elsewhere on the globe like OZ for 2 years) I have been exploring since I was born and I STILL find sweet little (or BIG in some cases aye) hidden jems that others point me to and I point fellow explorer's in the dirrection of some of my faves like the upper Clackamas and the Kalawash or the Alsea river area (we've had a family cabin down there for 20+ years, I love how sleepy the Costal range towns and river area's are aye)... WHere was I??? Oh yeah so in Oregon alone 32 years has been hardly enough to know SOME of the great spots to explore. WHat a great place. I'm also in Love with Idaho being a river guy/rafter and DH/FR mountain biker at heart. Stanley, Lowman (the Payete River Valley in general...can you say HOT springs???) the Lochsa river and the Clearwater River valley are among my favorites in Idaho.

Anyway, to get it back on track, got anymore pics of the Patrol ute for us??? :) Can't get enough of the neat and unique trucks you;ve got for yourself aye. (Caught your 60series Vid too, looks like it does pretty sweet in the snow aye)

Cheers

DAve
 

ReconH3

Heavy Duty Adventurer
That has got be the coolest and most unique looking 4x4 I have seen! Will definitely keeping an eye on this build.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

Sent from my iPhone
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
You could probably spend a lifetime in Oregon and not explore everything. Eastern Oregon also has many great places to go and explore. Funny you mention the webb'ed toes. I literally have two toes on each foot that are fully webbed. Must be that I was concieved in a very wet enviroment!


Nobody came to the auction today. :( You may be wonder what I am talking about, auction blah blah blah. I wasn't able to get a title for the Ute yrs ago, there did exist one in NZ but I never got it. I have all the import docs and took that down to DMV a year or two after I got the Ute. DMV said, you are screwed! I was like, come on, must be something I can do. They say, if you own property you can do an abadon vehicle title. So I am like ok and ask my landlord to help meout. I then start the process which is about 10 steps. I do a few steps of the process and then slack it off. Recently I start the process again. One of the last big steps was to place an ad in the local paper in the legal section, stating a public auction will be held for an abondon vehicle. When I talked to the sheriff about it he said just list the truck at a high prioce if you want to keep it. So I did, somebody could of bought it but I would have made $3k on the truck. ;) Any ways, the auction was today and nobody came. I have the proof of the ad from the newspaper and it is notorized as request by the state. So now all I have to do is take all my paper work to the sheriff, pay a sales tax at the courthouse and then mail it off to the state capital and sit back and wait for a title. :)

My 64 Patrol I also lacked a title on. I bought that one in New Mexico though so it was not imported plus I had a bill of sale. DMV has me titling this one as a restoration, ie find it in a farmers field and restore it. This is basically a simple version of doing a bonded title process. Today I had a licensed Wyoming car dealer do a appraisal of the turck which is my last big step to get the 64 titled.

Any ways, my reason for blahing on about it is so you can see old trucks, imported trucks, whatever....if there is a will there is a way to get it titled and street legal. :)
 

cruiseroutfit

Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
Interesting process with the auction. The Utah process is pretty straight forward in my experience. You have to photo the vehicle, get a VIN inspection by a LEO, and then fill out a form of how and why you have it and the process for which you bought it with any supporting docs. They will do a title search and if it comes back with no title history or no liens they will then issue a clean Utah title. I've done it on a dozen or more parts rigs or old Cruiser I buy sans title. Knock on wood they have all come through without trouble but I'm always worried about finding one with a lien... you've put all your cards on the table and could lose the rig if a lien is present I suppose.
 

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